BABY.. but it’s a GIRL! Looks like we are adding a daughter to our little family in July! We are so excited and I’m getting a little anxiety thinking about caring for two little ones. I know there are tons of parents that have gone through it so we can do it too! Trying to stay positive and I know it will be worth it.

Here is our gender announcement. This time, my husband and I knew the gender of our baby and just had a photo shoot done with only our son. It took a couple tries to have all the balloons pop out of the box and a couple cookies to have Shawn look at the camera. It was fun. Here’s a tip: always schedule photo shoots at their happiest moods in the day. We did this after my husband and cousin got off work.. bad idea! Shawn was so tired and cranky by this time of the day.

The gender announcement from our first pregnancy was a surprise for the both of us {see blog post here}. Big thanks to my cousin Jeremey for always helping us out with pictures for our family! We love you!

I am not good at this blogging thing. But in all reality, there wasn’t enough time to blog. Yes, I’m a first time mom – a first time stay-at-home mom (SAHM). A first time wife. I still have LOTS to learn.

Life turns around 360 degrees when a new life pops out of your body. Sacrifice. After discussing it with my husband, we were able to have me become a SAHM. No, I did not leave a career that I loved. It was a job. I did my time and collected my paycheck every two weeks. However, I think I found the career that I absolutely love – being a mother. Yes, we lost the income I used to earn but this is the time I can’t take back with my son. It’s priceless. Pre-wedding, we sacrificed our old habits – shopping, going out, etc. but we just continued this sacrifice when we found out we were pregnant.

Our son is 10 months old as of today. I sit here in bed with my son laying next to me as I type this, listening to Disney Lullaby music. Yes, we co-sleep from time to time. Who am I kidding? We co-sleep everyday. He starts in the crib and by wee hours in the morning, he is in bed with us! It’s all good, we love this little booger.

It’s pretty nuts how people can be quick to judge on parenting decisions. I’m guilty of it. Prior to being pregnant and actually having Shawn, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t do certain things I’ve seen on TV, or from friends with children, or even from strangers who are out with their kids in public. Now that I’m 10 months in, the “Ahhh I see” light bulb turns on annnnd that’s why they choose to do that with their children.

Prime example, I went to Buy Buy Baby to buy baby food for our trip to Hawaii because I didn’t want to carry on homemade pureed food on the plane and risk spoilage. Another mom was also shopping for baby food and started small talk with me and said, “All the greens (veggies) are gone.” I replied, “Yeah, must be popular. I usually make my own but I want to try these out for our trip to Hawaii.” Other mom, “Oh, I totally stopped making my little ones food a couple months ago. It took to much time.” I smirked and thought to myself, “Heh, I’ll never stop making my baby’s food.” Here I am now feeding my son baby food from the store. More power to those parents who continue feeding their babies homemade food. Again, there is no right or wrong way to raise a kid. As long as it works for you and your little one.

I had set high expectations for myself when I was pregnant to do things this way and that way because it’s what the books, blogs, and emails from various baby websites recommended. I finally learned, there isn’t a right or wrong way to raise your kid. Every family, every baby is different. Suggestions from these sources are great but if it doesn’t work for our little one, then we try something that does work for us. Today, my husband reminded me something that the instructor of our Child Birth class from Kaiser said: “Only you and your husband will know your child(ren) the best, no matter how much experience grandparents, nannies, babysitters, or teachers have. YOU know them the best. ” It was refreshing to hear that again cause now that Shawn is older, it is true. We know his cues and we know what works for him, even if it doesn’t work for our friends’ children or my cousins’ children.

We have lots to learn. We are not perfect parents but the only way to strive to be GREAT parents is to experience it and to learn the ropes as our child(ren) grow.

Geez. Who would of thought that baby gear is like shopping for a car. We did lots of research for a stroller and a diaper bag! Well, I should say that I did a lot of research on strollers and diaper bags.

Since I was pregnant and left my job, I had a lot of time looking up baby products online. Surprisingly, diaper bags was one I kept going back and forth on. I couldn’t really decide so I just registered for a JJ Cole Mode Tote Bag. It served its purpose in the beginning of my child’s life but now I pack a little more since my son likes to spit up and poo up his back! haha.

Narrow and deep – I have to dig and take everything out if something is at the bottom of the bag.

No room for any of mom or dad’s stuff (i.e., wallet, cell phone, etc.)

Side pockets are not wide enough

I was afraid to get the bag dirty and mess up the stitching on the bag

I really wanted to keep this bag but I’m an over packer. I want to make sure I have everything I need for every situation.

So, the other bag on my wishlist is the Ju Ju Be – Be Prepared Diaper Bag. So I exchanged the PPB Boxy Backpack for this bag! I chose the plain black/silver color that way my husband can carry it around too, without worrying about the girly feel too it.

I’m back! Let’s say I’ve been busssssy. A lot has happen since my last post!

Quick recap:

We bought a house back in November 2012

and gave birth to my beautiful son, Shawn Xander, on 01.13.13!

Being a mother has been so amazing! The love you have for this little human being is hard to describe to someone who has not had a baby yet. I remember when my best friend had her son… I fell in LOVE with him. But it’s definitely a different love when you have one of your own!

After giving birth to Shawn, my husband said he has a better appreciation for women! Ain’t that the truth. The night we had him, we could not sleep. We stared at him all night/morning! Being a new mom, made me appreciate my mom more. You don’t realize what your parents went through until you become a parent. We still have lots to learn and have a lot more obstacles to go through with our son. I don’t think anyone can be “ready” to have a child but to just dive in. haha! I was always back and forth on what I wanted to be when I “grow up”. But one thing for sure, I knew I always wanted to be a mom!

This is the most priceless gift my husband can ever give me. We are blessed! We are having a BOY!

At our sonogram appointment, we asked the technician to not tell us our baby’s gender. We brought her a piece of paper and envelope to write down this information.

My sister took the envelope and went to Party City to fill up the box I painted with either teal balloons for a boy or purple balloons for a girl. We wanted to stay away from the traditional blue and pink. At this point, she was the only one who knew the gender of our baby. We then had our awesome photographer cousin, J Amante, take our gender announcement photos at Balboa Park.